Day 5: Scrap metal

building my own junk shop empire and went to look at other

shops today. *excited over this...

advertised it and it was funny how people also offered not only

broken appliance but broken hearts and promises haha

Day 4: Pork Stew

Had a good dinner last night and an old friend made it =)

Learned something too! in cooking, it is basic to have salt and pepper...

He scolded as he scoured for ingredients he cannot find in the kitchen,

commented on our wilting vegetables and then gave me 

basic cooking 101 tips that I am excited to try...haha as if! =P

Day 3: Slumdog Millionaire

finally saw the movie last week.  

Ii cringed when I saw him do what he did to get Armaan's autograph

I read the book first...

and love the book better than the movie for these reasons:

1. in the book he is the elder brother

2. Armaa, the actor is actually gay

3. he ran away because he pushed Smita's father off the second floor

3. he was a butler of Colonel Taylor,  an Australian Spy

4. his younger brother, Salim, arranged the death of the mafia lord

5. the host was the reason why he joined the contest

6. he was loyal to Neelima, the tragedy queen

7. He took care of a baby who's been abandoned by his mother

8. Smita, became a lawyer and saved him, but she is not a love interest

Spaghetti and Mommy Blues

Tonight is spaghetti night.  

Thanks to my ex-husband, let's call him the Silent One, who is somewhat remarkable in the kitchen,  we get to skip meat loaf for dinner.  

The kids were so excited to see spaghetti that you'd think I am starving them.  Noah was hovering at the bowl while cheese was being sprinkled and Alex, my dear Alex, managed to lick the sides of the bowl where the sauce was accidentally smeared.  

alex hugging the spag with noah beside her

How come they never do that when I cook?  in fact, if I remember correctly, they ordered bread when they saw me cooking in the kitchen and managed to skip the breakfast that I, their mother dear, so lovingly prepared for them.  The brats!  

I like mommy duty except that I suck at it sometimes.   I have certain moments where I can hear Kira doing his weird noises downstairs while I am hiding at the studio.  He has this habit of looking for me when I don't want to be bothered.  He is a version of the BWL.  In fact, he is a mini BWL.  Curls, eyes, timing and all.  And he is insistent.  Too insistent for my patience sometimes, that I get scared to see him, so sometimes I opt to hide away.  Nothing wrong with being non-confrontational.

Also, I find it weird how the kids want to drag me to their bedroom just so I can see them jump up and down the mattress.  So for 2011, I have decided to work on getting a new and better mattress for my bed.  So the kids can jump up and down on it without me having to go downstairs.  You see, My room is on the second floor and it is kinda tiring to go up and down to see a jumping escapade.  They can just do it in my room. I can pretend I am watching them while I doze off and then they can stop when they hear me snore.  Brilliant plan.

Another thing that I don't like them doing is they tend to have this need to be heard...at the same time.  All adamant about getting their point across and bawling out when you get them wrong.  Imagine four kids talking to you at the same time at a decibel that is hurting your ears.  

Like with the spag meal, they want it and they want it now.  They have their own reasons why you should choose to serve them first.  What I did was make them take their own share.  

They are also very strict in terms of measurement.  God forbid that you put more coke in one child's glass while the others are staring.  Alex, the ever so clever one, got the cup with calibration printed on it, you know, the one you use for baking (?). Seeing this, Leon decidedly grabbed his milk bottle, that one has calibrations too...and of course the other two followed.

The good thing is, I think, they get my frustrations sometimes.  

When I just want to hear my own thoughts, and they feel like mommy wants to rest and maybe sleep forever--- not the sleep-death-forever-thing...the sleep-rest-almost-dead-but-still-a-good-mom-thing,  they just let me lie down on their bed while they watch the barnyard animals (or spongebob).  They've seen it a hundred times and could even tell me the story.  They tell me a lot of things and when they see me confused and grinning --- that often makes them happy.  They shush me if I become too opinionated because the teddy bear is sleeping.  It's a way of telling that I need not be stressed.  It's apparent in the looks they give each other.

But they are not without cunning.

They try to gently fish for prizes that I am not offering.  Like Leon telling me what happy meal toy I will get him if he decided to ditch the cartoon show and sleep.  

They make small talk about monster trucks, cartoon shows, and lately, harry potter.  

That's them trying to cheer me up when I am kinda tired.  Still a handful,   but nonetheless affectionate.  And because they are very considerate children to their weary mother, they silently elbow each other instead of bawling.

It is fortunate that in their young age, they have learned the fact that food is a category they cannot primarily discuss with me.  Actually it's cooking they don't discuss with me, lest I take on the idea that they want me to cook for them.  They urge me to order take out, mcdo is a favorite.

They have accepted the fact that their mom cannot cook anything and spaghetti is just not happening if I am in charge of the kitchen.  Noah offered to cook with me the one time I was left alone with them.  Te neng was out and Long-long was in school.  She was reassuring me that she is an expert in frying eggs.

They do know I am good with the camera though.  

And in that, they are very demanding.  So what do I do when good food is served? I take a photo.

Day 2: Furry Slippers

furry doggie slippers

Yammy gave me these as a birthday present last December.  Was stashing it for almost a month to avoid theft.  The kids might steal it.  Wore it for the first time today ^.^

Day 1: Talong og Ginamos

Bought vegetables yesterday and te neng 

boiled some eggplant and made a salad mixed with fish sauce and tomatoes ^.^

Ayos Dito

Checked out Ayosdito.ph.  And found myself entertained with the map on the frontpage.  I accidentally found fun in the form of hovering.  The map is colored in different shades of green and is labeled by regions.  A region turns to dark green when you hover it.  Spent a few moments running the mouse over the map just to see the regions light up as the cursor passed by ^.^    I have come across this site before and even tried to buy a truck except that someone beat me to it =(  Almost all of the best bargains I get are from online deals.  For those unfamiliar with Ayosdito.ph, it's a buy and sell website where buyers posts things they want to buy and where sellers (not necessarily merchandisers) virtually display whatever it is that they wan to sell.  In Ayos Dito, you can search sellers by regions (or entire Philippines) and you can search items by categories.  Or you can opt to have the cheapest bargains to be shown first in a certain region, say, in Davao region and the category would be under Properties, House and lot for sale.  

My daughter and I oggled at this Komatsu 545 Payloader.  Its big, mean, and yellow. what more could you ask for?  it's like my truck's great great uncle ^.^

Because we are avoiding traffic, Noah and I decided to spend time looking for gifts online.  We argued over stuff toys, accessories and clothes.  She threw a fit when i started looking for certain accessories and parts for my truck.  I told her, I have to...so far this December, I managed to run down a lamp post, destroy a fence, enslaved a motorcycle driver, and founded a fans club of greasy machine shop boys who are ready to get down and dirty whenever colonel (my truck -- sometimes we call him "the beast") throws a tantrum.  Reminded her how hard it was to get a taxi and we always get the ones where the drivers don't seem to know how to drive.  She rolled her eyes and commented on the spiral notebook theme the site has...her way of changing the subject as her mother is starting to monologue.  and to think she is just grade one.  What happened to the unquestionable authority of parents over their kids? :P

Sarangani Adventure

coastal view

Sarangani has earned a spot in my travel plans.  I've never realized that a stretch of white sand beaches exists there...and not as expensive and as crowded as bora!  Kainnneeeessss, ngayon ko lang nalaman.  

The beaches we visited in Gumasa Glan, Sarangani were soooo nice! and take note...we were traveling on paved roads.  I was so sure that we were already in the middle of nowhere, but no bumpy rides on this trip...well except for the common minor ones that lasts a meter long.

We visited Isla Jardin Del Mar, Davak Ridge Beach Resort, Yoshikawa Crystal Island Beach Resort, and White Haven Beach Resort -- all in Glan. Enrico Dee of Byahilo.com even shared that there is an Indonesian community existing somewhere in Glan.

Before, when I hear of the place Sarangani, I always associate it with the Blaan tribe. Period.  And I know next to nothing about the Blaan culture.  Needless to say, I had this ambiguous assumption that Saranggani is this place in the province.  No imagery of beaches and great cuisines pass my mind...nor have I ever thought of it as a place to go to to relax.  Now I know better.

facilities and scenery is not to be frowned at
 @ Lemlunay Resort there is an infinity pool overlooking the
sea...

at the Lemlunay Resort
Will go to snorkle here next year!!! yeba! they have great
diving spots also ^.^

Sarangani Province has been an endless wonder for me.  While I was there gawking at new discoveries and listening to people talk about the place, I couldn't help myself from falling in love with it.  The cultural history is rich, the people are friendly, the beaches are white...and the sunset, regardless of the missed boat ride is just so worth it.  And yes, I know I've been ranting about beaches, as I am a beach bum, but I had my loudest shriek at the Pangi River when the group went down to experience tubing.  

For those not familiar with tubing, it's cruising the river the crazy way.  You don on a helmet and a life jacket ( we both had fun trying on our gear and pretending we are going biking =P ) and you subject yourself to the river with only a rubber tube to hang on.  And mind you, it's better to do this when the river current is fast --- and to make things difficult, There will be boulders bigger than you are.  If you come across one, as our guide would say, do not kick it.  And yeah, its not fun if you fall off the rubber tube, so as to not ruin everyone's afternoon ride, avoid drowning by hanging on for dear life.  And you can scream all you want.  Everybody will be busy shrieking too so don't worry about it.

all geared up for tubing!

expect to drink a lot of river water too coz the ride will
make you scream!!!!

Food there was a delight too.  We had bangsi and fresh greens paired with bagoong for breakfast prepared by Cresing's Food Products in Maitum.  Bangsi is salted flying fish and best eaten with vinegar and rice.  Maitum is best known as producers of rice and it also boasts of the best Bangsi in the province.  Cresing's also offered its world class coffee made out of brown rice, corn, and lemon grass.  For lunch we had chicken satay and hawaiian kinilaw amongst others in Lemlunay Resort.  And last but not the least-- the best entree we had for the day, actually, was Kalambingan.  Dishes made out of lamb and goat - papaitan and kaldereta prepared by Isla Meloussa Beach Resort. 


Little trivia: Meloussa is an "anagram" of Ssaloume.  


**Also the dishes they prepared for us were actually not common dishes served in resorts.  Most would offer bbq or grilled fish or any food that's easy to prepare.  In Davao, I seldom find these type of dishes and almost all of the time, I get to taste them in private functions within our family circle.  It is a special dish.  My dad used to have these dishes cooked everytime he celebrates his birthday =)

food! food! food!

We also visited Balungis Women Association and discovered that these Maguindanaoan women handweave silk into fine cloth.  We met some of the women and they who showed us traditional weaving.  They make bags, belts, wallets, and other cloth-based products.

DTI-Socksargen is actively promoting their OTOP (One Town, One Product) project.  A project that helps create jobs and business opportunities for the people in Saranggani.  Glan, Malungon, Maitum, Alabel, Maasim, Malapatan, and Kiamba -- all seven towns are now being supported by the local government for their financing needs as local governments identify, develop and promote a specific product or service to help their local economy. 

"Glan town chose to develop various coco-based products for food, beverage and handicrafts; fresh and processed mango for Malungon; marinated fish for Maitum; fresh cardaba banana for Alabel; fresh and processed cardaba banana for Maasim; fresh cardaba banana for Malapatan; and, abaca-based products such as T’nalak and other handicraft for Kiamba." -- Allen V. Estabillo, Mindanews

My experience in Sarangani has changed a lot of my expectations about the area.  And to experience it once is just not enough.  So for next year, I'm definitely coming back...especially now that I've learned that the famous Tarsier, only known to be found in bohol is actually endemic to this coastal province.  Surprise? yeah, me too ^.^